BALTIMORE: HITTING: The leadoff spot is 2B BRIAN ROBERTS' if he can stay on the field. His recent injury history is very troubling, though his talent makes him a risk worth taking. 2B ROBERT ANDINO and 2B RYAN ADAMS would compete for time if Roberts is out. The O's best hitter last year was arguably SS J.J. HARDY. He was healthy for the first time in years and flexed his legit 30-HR power. If Roberts and Hardy stay healthy, OF NICK MARKAKIS will likely hit third and see an increase in RBI chances. OF ADAM JONES seems to have the highest ceiling of any Baltimore hitter. 3B MARK REYNOLDS will probably end up at 1B. His horrendous average cancels out some of his 40-HR potential. OF NOLAN REIMOLD revived his MLB career with an impressive end of the season. He's got a shot to start in left. 1B CHRIS DAVIS is a candidate to start at first, third or DH as sort of a Junior Mark Reynolds. C MATT WIETERS is already one of the best two-way backstops in baseball at age 25.

STARTING PITCHING: WEI-YIN CHEN pitched well enough in Japan (2.48 ERA, 1.06 WHIP in past four seasons) to become the de-facto ace of this horrible pitching staff. JAKE ARRIETA is a mediocre talent, but is good enough to secure a spot as a Baltimore starter. JASON HAMMEL hopes the switch from Coors Field will help lower his career ERA of 4.99. The highest-risk, highest-potential O's pitcher may be BRIAN MATUSZ. His 2011 line is frightening (10.69 ERA, 2.11 WHIP), but he has the raw skills and pitch repertoire to turn it around. TOMMY HUNTER came over from Texas midseason and should round out the rotation. RELIEF PITCHING: There was talk of JIM JOHNSON being converted into a starter, but he'll open the season as the team's closer. Johnson established himself as the O's best option to close after going 7-for-7 in that role last September. KEVIN GREGG would step in as the ninth-inning man if Johnson falters. He was unstable in that role last year. Gregg is a trade candidate this midseason, in which case he'd probably end up a set-up man elsewhere. Flame-throwing MATT LINDSTROM is a darkhorse for saves. He saved 23 games for Houston in 2010 before being used as a set-up man in Colorado last year. TSUYOSHI WADA brings his finesse game from Japan. He's a heady hurler who hides the ball well, but he's in for a rude awakening in the A.L. East. BRAD BERGESEN and CHRIS JAKUBAUSKAS are long relievers who may get bumped into the rotation if the young Baltimore SPs struggle again.

LA ANGELS: HITTING: SS ERICK AYBAR will likely get another crack at the leadoff spot by default. DH/OF BOBBY ABREU can still draw walks and run a little. 2B HOWIE KENDRICK traded batting average for more power last year. He's still one of baseball's better middle infield bats. 1B ALBERT PUJOLS should benefit from DH-ing a couple of times a year. OF TORII HUNTER is fading fast and may not provide middle-of-the-order power. OF VERNON WELLS has a better chance than Hunter to bounce back, and the Angels have to be patient considering his monster contract. MARK TRUMBO will get a look at 3B. If he can't get it done, ALBERTO CALLASPO would start and Trumbo would back-up first and DH. Speedy OF PETER BOURJOS will start in left, and top prospect MIKE TROUT will soon replace free agents-to-be Abreu or Hunter. KENDRYS MORALES could DH regularly if his ankle is healthy. CHRIS IANNETTA is no Mike Napoli, but he's a monster upgrade over Jeff Mathis. STARTING PITCHING: JERED WEAVER had a lot of things go right in 2011, and it's not hard to picture him as a Cy Young candidate again. But he faded late in the year, and may not belong in the upper echelon or pitchers. A cutter has led to DAN HAREN's rebirth. He's right there with Weaver, just a step behind the elite arms. C.J. WILSON may not get the same run support, but he should benefit from getting out of hitter-friendly Arlington; he had a 2.31 road ERA last year. ERVIN SANTANA never developed into a top-of-the-line starter, but he's become more consistent and settled in as a solid starter. Once a washed-out former prospect, JEROME WILLIAMS came back to the States from Taiwan and delivered three quality starts last September. He's not likely to have sustained success, but he does have the inside track for a rotation spot. Middling prospect GARRETT RICHARDS seems like the most likely candidate to step into the rotation in case of injury. RELIEF PITCHING: JORDAN WALDEN will have the closer's role again entering the spring, but while he was overpowering he was also very shaky at times. He gave up seven runs over 2.2 innings in his last three appearances. RICH THOMPSON decided to lean on his cutter last year and the results were excellent. If Walden slips up, Thompson has to be in the closer conversation. LaTROY HAWKINS was solid with Milwaukee (2.42 ERA) and joins his ninth different team since 2003. He is expected to set up Walden as well. Lefty SCOTT DOWNS was far from dominant last year, despite his 1.34 ERA. But Scioscia does trust him in high-leverage situations, making him a possible fallback if Walden struggles. The Angels don't seem to have big plans for HISANORI TAKAHASHI, the most well-compensated long reliever in baseball.

The disappointing Los Angeles Angels have had their share of problems, ranging from an injury to ace Jered Weaver to the continuing struggles of Josh Hamilton.

As Jerome Williams becomes the second to step into Weaver's spot in the rotation, Hamilton hopes to get back on track following a day off when Los Angeles hosts the Baltimore Orioles on Sunday to close a four-game set.

The Angels (11-19) haven't yet lived up to expectations, though they have been without Weaver since he suffered a left elbow April 7. Garrett Richards initially filled that vacancy, but he was sent back to the bullpen after going 1-2 with a 5.54 ERA in four starts.

Richards allowed Steve Pearce's RBI single in the 10th inning that gave Baltimore (18-13) a 5-4 victory Saturday.

Williams (1-0, 1.69 ERA) will make his first start of the season after eight relief appearances as Los Angeles looks to earn a split of the series. He gave up an unearned run while pitching six innings of the Angels' 10-8, 19-inning loss at Oakland on Monday.

"The way Jerome has been throwing the ball in his multi-inning looks has been what we expected," manager Mike Scioscia told the team's official website.

Williams, though, lost his last six starts of 2012 while posting a 7.88 ERA. The right-hander has been much better against Baltimore in his career, winning all three starts with a 3.00 ERA.

Whether or not he'll get some help from Hamilton is anyone's guess. Hamilton, who signed a five-year, $125 million contract in the offseason, is hitting .208 after going 1 for 8 with five strikeouts in the first two games of this series. That prompted Scioscia to give him a day off Saturday for the first time this season.

Since hitting four homers at Baltimore while with Texas on May 8, Hamilton is batting .179 with 15 strikeouts in eight games versus the Orioles. He enters Sunday in a 4-for-29 slump and has gone without an extra-base hit in 18 straight games.

"He's just not where he needs to be in the batter's box," Scioscia said. "I don't think it's anything about intimidation or anything about a contract. It's about getting comfortable in the batter's box. And he will."

Hamilton has never faced Jason Hammel (4-1, 3.79), who is scheduled to take the mound as Baltimore concludes an 11-game road trip.

The Orioles improved to 6-4 on the trip Saturday as Manny Machado hit one of their three homers. He's batting .393 with 10 extra-base hits while hitting safely in 12 of his last 13 games.

Pearce went 3 for 4 in only his 11th game this season.

"That's what this team's about - guys getting an opportunity and seizing it," said Tommy Hunter, Saturday's winning pitcher. "It's going to be a different guy every day."

Baltimore has won Hammel's last four starts, and he's 3-0 with a 3.13 ERA in that span but wasn't happy with his performance Tuesday. He failed to go six innings for the first time in six outings but beat Seattle, getting pulled after allowing the first three batters to reach in the sixth and charged with two runs in a 7-2 victory.

"I'm obviously very frustrated because that's not the way to build a winning team, because after a while those innings will start to chew up a bullpen no matter how good they are," Hammel said.

The right-hander has lost each of his three career starts versus the Angels while posting a 7.31 ERA. Hammel has received only one run of support in 16 innings over those outings, and he gave up three runs in 6 2-3 innings of a 3-0 loss in his most recent start versus Los Angeles on July 7.